We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sidney Jacobs a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sidney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

The first time I knew, I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic path professionally was in high school.

I sing my first solo for my churches youth choir when I was 11 years old. The response was so positive that I was a bit bit confused at first. But, it was while I was in high school and on my way to football practice one afternoon, that I heard the piano being played in the music room beside the locker rooms. When I walked in running back was playing at the time seemed the most Beautiful music. I was so impressed that I asked him to teach me how to play. He showed me one cord, a C major seven cord, And told me to just let my fingers explore the different notes I can create with that cord.

I wrote my first song that very week which I was able to perform at our Annual talent show. When I saw how the girls reacted to me playing and singing, I knew this was something that I wanted to look into further.

I was able to go to college on a classical voice scholarship, and that was really the beginning of my musical journey.

Sidney, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a professional jazz, singer and songwriter in Los Angeles. But I come to this profession through the back door. For most of my adult life, I have worked either in city government, or as an educational psychologist with the Los Angeles, unified school district.

throughout my life, I have written songs and just stored them away, never to be heard again. When some close friends, her some of my music, they implored me To release the music in the form of a CD, which in 2008 was a technology that was becoming widely accessible to the DIY Musician. That album was essentially just a collection of demos I had created, but it served as an example of what I could do if I put my mind to it

In 2016 I release my first real jazz album, entitled “First Man”. By this time, I have been singing around town again and getting to know some of the finest musicians in Los Angeles. I challenge myself to write music that I could not play and was designed to be played by, the best cats around.

Having no real expectations as to the album success, we were surprised when it climbed to 34 on the Jaz week chart. Eventually, it was played on over 100 radio stations. And, it even garnered Grammy balloting consideration.

During this time I was performing around Los Angeles when I could, but I was also a full-time educational psychologist, and I was taking care of my ailing, elderly mother and aunt toward the end of Their lives.

In 2018 I joined the 1970s psychedelic pop group The 5th Dimension. As such, I decided to retire from doing psychology. I’ve been very fortunate to tour all over this nation and North America while still riding and performing as a jazz vocalist in Los Angeles and Beyond.

In 2020 I release my third album entitled “If I Were Your Woman”. This album has allowed us to develop our modern sound to build a bigger audience.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have loved music, my entire life, but when I became a young man, my life went in a different direction having had two kids and A family; so I went back to school to obtain to graduate degrees.

I believe it is a sign of resilience to hold on to a goal and a dream into nurturing, even when you might not have the opportunity to exhibit it.

The Opportunities to exhibit, my craft came later on in life. Of this, I am thankful.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish that when I initially went to undergraduate school, I would have chosen a progressive music school that recognized my talent and potential

Being around People who have the same dreams as you provide so many resources for one’s own development. You are more easily able to create and maintain a cohort, and where there are cohorts there is synergy.

The one resource I would say is to use your social abilities to connect with cohorts that are on the same path as you

Contact Info:

• Website: Www. SidneyJacob’s art.com
• Instagram: @sidney jacobs music
• Facebook: @sidneyJacobsmusic
• Youtube: Sidney jacobs music
• Other: Apple Music
  Sidney Jacobs Music